a Decidedly Ducky Day

Oh, what a day! We headed down to Eugene today to attend Brett's first duck basketball game...and despite the fact that our ducks lost to Arizona, the day couldn't have gone better! Check out these priceless photos and videos of our Little Ducky meeting his hero, the Big Ducky.


Love at first Sight

A little excited, are we?

Admiring his lifelong hero...Big Ducky's cutest little fan!

Big Ducky shows Brett how it's done. Pose for the camera!

Going for a walk together...sweet!

And getting introduced to some more cheerleaders...the two ducks are the stars of the show!!

Big Ducky came and sat with us...and even drew a picture for Brett on his MagnaDoodle.

Smoooooch! Brett also said "I love you Big Ducky" several times.

Brett was quite the showstopper with all the cheerleaders too...This is Missy. She just had to stop by for a photo op!

"Yeah, Go Ducks!" Practicing a routine with the cheerleaders.

I have to add two little tidbits not captured on video...when we first arrived in the arena, before the team, cheerleaders, and mascot, we were just hanging out near our seats when we were spotted by the infamously rowdy student section. Oh yeah, they liked our little duckling...a LOT. Suddenly, from across the court, we heard hundreds of students all together chanting "BABY DUCK! BABY DUCK!" Then, when we held up Brett and danced him around a bit, they cheered wildly. What an awesomely fun day, and a dream come true for our little champ! Also, it was such a fun surprise to see how all the fans and workers reacted to our little mascot. TONS of people asked to take photos with him. TONS more took photos without even asking. It was so cool to see our little guy be such a star for a day. Makes for a proud Mama and Daddy!

We hope someday all these fun memories will resurface as our little guy grows into a star Oregon athlete...wouldn't these make for great yearbook and news photos if he just happens to lead the Ducks to another Pac-10 championship someday? Ahh, the dream...;)

abDUCKted?

You decide...do the photos below indicate that our family has posession of the beloved Duck Mascot??!?


This was my project of the week...creating a true-to-life duck mascot costume for Brett, who absolutely adores Big Ducky. He LOVES it! We are going to debut it tomorrow afternoon at the Oregon-Arizona basketball game in Mac Court. So fun!!

Advice taken!

Thanks to all our friends, family and blog lurkers who voted in our little blog-header poll. Since the vast majority voted that we take down the winter pic after New Year's, I went ahead and threw together a new collage header instead. Whatcha think?

Aww, thanks :)

My sweet friend Nancy down in Arizona passed on this Beautiful Blogger award to me!

Now it's my turn to share seven things about myself, and pass the award on to seven beautiful blog friends. So, here goes:

#1
I forgot to share this at Christmas, but better late than never - our neighborhood had its first Christmas light contest this year, and we WON! Woohoo! Made all that work for the past nine years worth it...haha. It was definitely good timing for us, as we were going through a lot of heavy stuff over the holidays. The night before my operation, some nice ladies from our association showed up at the door bearing the great news, plus a basket of awesome goodies. Here is a photo of the award-winning light display. For Christmas 2010, I highly recommend you add Sterling Park to your list of Christmas-light-viewings! We had a lot more participation this year due to the contest, so it makes for a good show. Of course, our household is already planning additions for next year...not that we expect to win the award again, but it will be fun to try!

Note that the blow-up bear we added this year is collapsed under the snow in this photo...haha! Also, we leave up the lights on our front window (the cross) through Easter every single year.

#2
I am not a total greenfreak, but I do love cloth diapers and recommend them to everyone I know. Cloth rules! I even have a friend who is presently knitting a new wool nighttime cover for me to try out on Brett...can't wait to see how that looks and works! It will look like this:


#3
I have been a stay-at-home-mom for two years now...and since then I never wear makeup or "do" my hair except for church or special events. I love my yoga pants, ponytails, and puffy down vests, but sometimes I think I'm totally copping out in the grooming department. Hmm.

#4
If my house isn't clean, my brain doesn't function right. I can get in a serious funk if the floors stay dirty for more than a day. I am always picking up stray lint balls and such from the floor. If I step barefoot on some crumbs in the kitchen, it really grosses me out. And wiping my hand over a sticky counter really irks me. This house has definitely taught me a lot about choices I'm going to make next time, if the Lord blesses us with the opportunity to build another house. Darker colored carpet will be the first thing on my list!

#5
On the cleaning theme, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Bissell Spot Bot. It is a mommy's (and a pet-mommy's) best friend. Westley, our male kitty, has been eating and barfing Christmas tree all season long, and I had to Bissell several times a week to keep my carpets from being totally destroyed. Thank goodness for my Spot Bot. And it's fun these days, because Brett is in love with it too. He calls it "Vacuum Beep."

#6
I love, love, love to organize! Give me an all-expense-paid trip to The Container Store and I'd be one happy lady. I have actually designed two whole custom Elfa systems (one for the laundry room, one for the pantry), which I never bought...but at least they are there in case we ever have a sudden surge in our budget. Right now my organizational juices are flowing in the direction of toy and craft storage - Brett has a few new toys from B'day and Christmas, which need a more defined home (rather than just thrown under the coffee table), and he is also getting more into arts and crafts, which means my pantry has random crafty stuff shoved in the top. Here is what I'm thinking about buying as a solution to each of those:


We already have open canvas totes that match these boxes...the boxes would function better in a high-visibility part of the family room. The rolling craft cart would store away neatly in our coat closet, and roll out anytime Brett is feeling crafty.

#7

I am so excited to start Brett's new 2-year-old home preschool curriculum! I ordered it last week from this site. I can't wait to get started...he really seems ready. Last week we were about to start reading a book together, and Brett opened to the title page (which I always skip), and spontaneously started identifying letters on the page! I was floored! This kid needs a new challenge, fo sho!

Sorry, no recent pictures or videos of him showing off his intellectual prowess...but this one of him eating blueberries really tickles me.

Okay, now my seven friends to whom I'm passing this Beautiful Blogger Award:
Bethany - a quadruple-blogging diva!
Mindy - her blog always has the most gorgeous pictures
Jacki - she keeps up so well, she almost posts every day!
Karly - another blog with simply gorgeous photos of her two cuties
Natalie - always positive and encouraging!
Hannah - love just bursts from her blog :)
Kelly - eagerly blogging about their upcoming adoption...SO exciting!

Vote on the right!

Just pointing you to our little poll --------->

I love this picture for our header, but it is kind of seasonal. When do you think we should take it down?

Brett's Greatest Hits: Live in Concert!

Our little rockstar has definitely acquired his parents' love for music and performing. A couple months back, Grandma and Papa Brown bought Brett his first drum set. Daddy added to it with some cool new pieces. Over the summer, Grandma Boehme bought Brett a nice new keyboard to play on. For Christmas, the Boehmes got Brett his very first guitar (a real ukulele!). He is practically a one-man-band. Here are some fun videos I captured of him rockin' out to his favorite tunes today. Anyone want to buy an album? ;)



Twinkle Twinkle Little Star:





Away in a Manger:

Head, Shoulders Knees and Toes:

The B - I - B - L - E:

Row, Row, Row Your Boat:

God is So Good:

Ring Around the Rosie:

Party Time

It's been a week of partying at the Boehme house! I suppose the last two weeks of the year will always be jam-packed with celebrations, with Christmas, Birthday and New Year's all in one fell swoop. All of the fun definitely leaves us all pretty pooped, but it's worth it! Our little guy had such a fun time celebrating his big second birthday. Thanks to all who joined in the fun!




Family Fondue Night - Brett's Birthday and New Year's Eve

Brett blows out the candles on his Birthday dessert
\
After all that good eatin', he still had room for some pretend pizza. Yum!

Strumming on his new blazing-red guitar. Pretty good form!


Yes, Daddy actually found Brett this toy mixer. One of Brett's favorite gifts, by far. He's always been enthralled with Mommy's mixer, so now he has one of his own!


Having lots of fun in his new fort/tunnel from cousins Alex, Andrew and Annalise!

It also doubles as a mobile home. Very cool.



Party time!
This was my favorite decoration - we chose a Veggie Tales party theme, and I wanted to make a fun backdrop for taking pictures...the project turned into a cutout photo booth. Here are Brett and his great buddy, Jaron, posing as Bob and Larry. So fun!

Jaden posing as Larry

Kiera and Katelyn posing in the photo booth


Auntie Natalie and Mommy pose as Bob and Larry too! :)


Brett loved playing with (and borrowing from) Mr. Potato Head. Great pick, Auntie!


Time for cake! I made a 3-D Bob out of chocolate cake and Larry out of rice krispy treats...then frosted it all with buttercream and marshmallow fondant. Thank goodness, Larry managed to stay upright until Brett blew out the candles! He was so top heavy. Whew. :)

Cake-faces, mmm...

Enjoying a short Veggie video